Volcano

Yesterday my roommates and I went with our host family to the Pacaya Volcano which is one of the volcanoes that surrounds Guatemala City. We drove up into the moutains a little ways until we reached what our guide said was the skirt of the volcano. There are a few ways to get to the volcano you can hike, ride on horseback or if you take a certain path you can take a car part way up. Our group went all out and hiked up! It was about a 3 hour hike up the mountain and most of it at pretty steep inclines. However, the views were amazing. At one point our host father pointed out to a line on the horizon which was the Pacific Ocean. We got high enough up that we were in the clouds, sometimes even above them. A little ways before we reached the volcano it began to rain on us, luckily there was a small shelter we could stand under until the rain passed. Once we made it past the shelter we reached the volcano. About this time last year the volcano erupted and actually caused the group of teachers that were here to go home a week early. Our host father said that ash was about 5cm deep in the city. Because it erupted just last year what we saw of the volcano was just black volcanic rock and sand. There were only a few spots were vegitation has begun growing again. It was quite an amazing spot. There was steam coming off the rocks and nothing but black rock surrounding us. Our guide showed us that if you dug a little bit into the rock you can feel the heat from the volcano. As we hiked closer to the top we reached a hole in the ground that was giving off a tremedous amount of heat, it felt like we were sitting next to a camp fire. Right below this opening was a cave that they referred to as a sauna. The guide led us into the cave and sure enough it felt like a sauna. It was amazing to feel the heat that the volcano was giving off. As we were exiting the cave the guide pointed to a small ledge in the cave wall and explained that people have been able to cook hamburgers on the ledge. The hike back down the mountain was much shorter, it only took us about an hour. Despite all the hiking and climbing yesterday I am proud to say that I am not too sore!

Today at school was a little tougher than most days for us. This is our last week here and I think we are all getting pretty burned out. Between spending time with our families, site seeing, teaching and preparing lessons we are all pretty tired. Our motivation is mostly coming from knowing that this is our last week with our students and we want to teach to our very best. During recess today I had the chance to talk with my homeroom teacher, Senorita Magalay, with the help of a translator (a.k.a. my roommate Elvia). I wanted to hear some of my students stories since it is difficult to fully get to know them with the language barrier. I learned that there are a few that have to work for their families, some having to go sell food in the streets at 2 in the morning before coming to school. A few have lost parents or had parents who abandonded them. Some have siblings that are abusive and take away any gifts given to them at school. Even though it was difficult to hear some of the things that my students have gone through or are going through I didn't want to leave here without knowing about them a little better.

Also today my roommates and I got to go see our host brother Pablo perform in a play at his school. I think he was a little bit embarrassed that we came but glad at the same time. He goes to a private school here in the city and the school holds students from pre-school all the way up to high school. We got a small tour of the school getting a chance to see some of the elementary classrooms. The classrooms were amazing! They had lofts, play areas, some had stages...it was definitely a dream classroom.

In the background is the volcano

At the skirt of the volcano

Beautiful view

The mountain in the distance with the clouds on top of it is another volcano. If it had been a clear day we could have seen the three that surround Guatemala City.

Up in the clouds

Some of the trees in this picture are missing leafs as a result of the eruption last year

This is the spot where our host father said you can see the Pacific Ocean on the horizon. Difficult to tell in the picture, was difficult to see in person also but you could almost make it out.

View of the city

In this picture you can see where some of the lava flowed from the eruption. At the bottom on this picture you can see a black blob where the lava stopped

First glimpse of the volcano and volcanic rock

The steam coming of the rocks

This portion of the hike was very rock and dangerous because the rocks were not very stable and they were extremely sharp

This is the opening in the groud that was as hot as a camp fire. You can't see in the picture but there were heat waves coming off this spot

The cave directly below the opening in the ground that they called the sauna.